Gay Cycling Champ Warns Athletes to Stay in the Closet

I used to be totally against the idea of outing people. Not any more! Every closeted, internalized homophobic coward is a threat to me because they fuel the power of straight people to persecute me. I say we drag your closeted cowardly asses out into the light! Every one who you've ever had sex with needs to out your sorry asses to the world!

It's good advise in context. As a trasnwoman, I'd give the same advise to other transwomen, as well as my Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual brothers and sisters: If you don't need to come out, if you don't want to come out, then don't. Of course, the community would benefit from it, and if you can, perhaps you should. Don't however put yourself at personal risk. He was suicidal, as was I. Coming out was necessary. If it wasn't for survival, I wouldn't have.

I think he's just trying to tell us how he feels today. He's not a coward. He paid a price while in the closet, and he paid a price for coming out. And we really have no idea what he's gone through because of it. People should be free to live their lives any damn way they want, as long as they aren't being actively homophobic. It's so easy to judge another.

I'd simply like to add my vote for "This guy's a coward, and doesn't make us proud". I regret that his advice is being circulated, instead of censored. It's terrible advice.

I hope any young gay man reading this realizes this guy is a coward. It gets tiring how certain gay men apologize for who they are so they can get some form of acceptance. This is guy is poor excuse for a gay man. And who cares about your wife. It is time to fight with fists if necessary for our rights otherwise we will appear like this guy without a back bone and without balls!

Regardless of the fact he came out, this man is a product of his generation. Governed by fear and shame. The fact is in any conflict, wether social or political in nature, their are going to be casualties. in the arena of athletics, those casualties will come in the form of careers being impacted or lost. But the lesson of this is that unless athletes coming out while still in the game is prevalent, common and out in the open, people will never get used to it. The adage out of sight out of mind works well here. This man thinks that because he spent his life closeted and in fear of the truth and reprisals, that only detriment can be had from younger gays of today coming out. yes some will suffer at first, but the more public and aired out this becomes the more support these athletes will find in their fans and collegues. Wether athletes come out is their business. But if they remain in the closet they only serve to continue the delusion that there are no gays in sports.

Oh and to the checking out comment, typically if I get that feeling I am pretty vocal that they aren't very attractive. In my experience attractive men appreciate the attention they just don't want it going over the line (touching, harassment), which is NORMAL. It may just be my experience though. Hell while I was in the military one guy was perplexed and even p/o that I didn't find him attractive.

This just reminds me of that scene in Angels in America where the closet guy is talking about gay men (which he is not!) are wimps and can't get a law passed in the city. Yep... looks like we are wimps.

This is a plea to young gays: This guy waited 45 years to come out of the closet. Take advice from braver people.

Well done on coming out. Wouldn't agree with the advice though. @donalogc